Apparatus for loading and unloading a photographic lettering machine



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 19, 1939. A. ,T. KOPPE APPARATUS FOR LOADING Am) UNLOADING A PHOTOGRAPHIC LETTERING MACHI FilJed Aug. 15, 190::

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ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES QPPABATUS FOB LOADING AND UNLOAD- ING, A PHOTOGBAPHIC LETTERING MA- CHINE Alexander T. Koppe, Hasbrouck Heights, N. 3., minor to General Printing Ink Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 15, 1936, Serial No. 98,295

14 Claims.

This invention is an apparatus for loading and unloading a photographic lettering machine of the general type shown in the patents to Ogden, No. 1,893,439,.dated January 3, 1933 and No. 2,019,764, dated November 5, 1935.

The invention comprises the following principal features:

A.,A carrier for the light sensitive material which is loaded in the darkroom and which moves through the wall of the dark room into position in the photographic lettering machine.

B. A printing frame, comprising clamping means cooperating with said carrier and with the sheet of light sensitive material, for positioning and clamping the light sensitive material firmly and accurately in proper focal position in the machine.

By virtue of the foregoing improvements, the productive capacity of the machine is substantially increased. The light sensitive material is positioned on a slide or carrier, which is conveniently a sheet of steel or other suitable material, in the dark room, and then this carrier is moved out of the dark room and into position in the ma- 25 chine, suitable light tight connections of course being provided between the machine and the dark room. I

After the light sensitive material has thus been moved into the machine, a clamping device is brought into play for clamping the light sensitive material firmly and accurately in the focal plane of the camera.

Further advantages of construction and operation will be apparent from the attached drawings illustrating the present preferred embodiment of the invention in detail.

In these drawings, Fig. 1 is avertical sectional view showing the apparatus of the present invention and cooperating parts. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing certain details of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the-line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the printing frame. 45, Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

' Fig. 6 is a section showing a detail of partof Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the carrier for the light sensitive material.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the tabl in the dark room; and

' Fig. 9 is a view of a detail.

Referring now to these drawings, in which similar reference characters indicate similar 7 parts, 2 indicates oneof the main frame castings oft-he machine," provided with trackways 4 and 6 on which ride rollers 8 and in which carry the main transversely movable carriage 12 The movable carriage I2 is provided with a light housing H which projects a beam of light through an alphabet plate 16 carried by a movable carriage I8. The light passes through bellows 20, prism housing 22, bellows 24, shutter and lens housing 26 and bellows 28, which is in 5 light tight connection at its lower end with a flexible sheet 30, and thence onto a sheet of light sensitive material, as will be described. The sheet 30, which may conveniently be of copper, is guided by guideways 32 into roll-up cylinders 34. The guides 32 are carried by an apertured frame member 34, the aperture of which is indicated generally at 36, providing a light tight connection with the upper reach.38 of 'a light tight endless beltpthe lower reach of which is shown at 38'. The upper reach of the belt 38 moves in a guideway 45. I

The foregoing features are similar in a general way to Figs. 13, 14, 1'7 and 18 of the Ogden Patent No. 1,893,439. The provision of the light tight belt 38 provides for transverse movement of the frame 12 on its rollers 8 and 10 while the flexible sheet 30 provides'for fore and aft movement, both of these movements being insulated against the entry of light.

The guideway 40 is carried by the lower frame member 40. 40 also forms a guideway for the lower stretch 38' of the belt. Guideway 40' is operatively engaged with a feed screw 41, through the medium of an internally threaded collar 4! secured to 40' and operatively engaged with the feed screw; the operation of the feedscrew moves the entire image projecting means in a fore and aft direction for shifting the projected image from one line to another.

The two described lateral movements of the image projector are evidently perpendicular to each other. I

Coming now to the important features of the present invention, a sheet of light sensitive material 42 is suitably secured, as by adhesive tape or the like, 42a, to a flat flexible sheet 44, preferably of metal and preferably of thin steel. This sheet is of considerable length so that it can be drawn into the dark room, loaded with a light sensitive material 42 and pushed out through the wall 43 of the dark room into the lettering machine by means of the handle 46. It may be provided with markings 45 useful in placing the sheet of light sensitive material thereon. In the dark room there is provided a table 48 supported by standards 50 and having a top surface member 52 provided with edge strips 54, the inner vertical edges of which provide guideways for the steel sheet 44. The table top 52 and guide strips 54 extend out through the wall of the dark room, into the lettering machine, j j, as shown in Fig. 1. One or both of these strips 1 54 may be'provided with a scale 54a for indie cating the position of the carrier sheet with relation to the lettering machine. The dark room end of the table top 52 is provided with one or more positioning studs 53 against which the end 44 of sheet '44 engages.

The steel sheet 44 extends through the opening 43 in the wall of the dark room, then through a light tight bellows 60 and connecting passageway 62, into a material holder, indicated gener-- ally at 64. The purpose of this material holder is to accurately position and hold a light sensitive material which is moved in contact with the glass plate III by raising the steel pressure plate against the material slide 44, so as to bring the sensitive material into the focal plane of the camera. It is quite important, in a machine of this sort, that the focusing he very accurate in order to give the necessary sharpness to the letters.

This material holder, which is shown more particularly in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, will now be described. This material holder comprises end members 66, the inner edges of which are recessed to provide shoulders 68 against which is held a glass plate 10 by means of a clamping strip 12.

The side members 66, described above, are located parallel to the movement of the steel carrier sheet. In order to permit the steel sheet to enter the printing frame, the side members ll thereof are slotted, this slot being indicated at 18;

The material holder is provided with an upwardly and downwardly movable clamping plate I8 provided with apertured cleats 8|] adapted to engage over guide pins 82. One edge is beveled, as at 83, for guiding the front edge of the carrier sheet into the material holder.

In order to move the plate II up and down there is provided a pair of levers 84, pivoted to the bottom of the plate on pins '8, the ends of these levers projecting over inclined cam surfaces ll provided by the inwardly extending rightangled plates 90 carried by the side member 14. The levers 84 are linked together by links 92, to give them parallel motion, one-of the links I! being provided with a pin ll passing through an aperture in an actuating handle 9', pivoted to the underside of the plate II at if. It will be apparent that when the handle OI is actuated in one direction, the ends of the levers I will ride up on thecam surfaces 80 and lift the plate II. Therefore, when the steel sheet carrying the light sensitive material is passed through the slot .18 into the material holder, and the bottom movable plate-fl! ofthe frame raised as just described, the steel together with the light sensitive material, will be moved upwardly and clamped accurately in the focal plane of the camera.

The actuating handle '0 projects into the dark rests on a tranverse rod ll between 0011338 OI secured to the rod. The rod is- "*combination with image projecting means posimounted loosely in bearings in the table 40 and is movable lengthwise of itself, and transversely with respect to the handle 96, by means of handle III. Rod ll is in the dark room and it is evident that the handle 90, controlling the clamping plate in the material holder, can be operated from the dark room.

light sensitive'materialinto operative position,

the left hand or forward end of the machine'is provided with an opening Ill so that the sheet;

coming out of "the ma erial bolder. can P N through this aperture into a light-tight housing I02, for taking care of the projected end of the steel sheet and any light sensitive material that may be carried thereby. The purpose of bending the housing It)! upwardly is to avoid the knees of the operator.

The material holder. 84, together with its clamping plate and handle 98, constitute an opcrating unit which may be readily removed from the machine. This is preferably effected by removing the housing 102 and inserting or removing the material holder through the opening Ill. Or, it could be inserted and removed from the dark room side, if more convenient. Summarizing briefly the operation of the apparatus: the steel sheet 44 is drawn into the dark room in position against the stops I4 and loaded by securing thereon one or more pieces of light sensitive material 42. The sheet is then pushed into the machine through the slots I. and into the material holder 64 until it is in approximately the right position, as may readily be ascertained by suitable guide marks applied accurately positioned in the focal plane of the camera. After one section of the light sensitive material is used up, the steel sheet can be projected further inwardly to expose another section, the excess length of the steel sheet going into the housing I02. When exposure has been completed, rod 98 is operated to release the clamping plate of the material holder, and the steel carrier sheet 44 drawn into the dark room for developing the exposed sheet and reloading with a new sheet.

While the present preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in some detail, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to these details, but may be carried out in other ways.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination with image projecting means positioned on the outside of a dark room, carrier means for light sensitive material loadable and unloadable in the dark room, before and after exposure, and movable back and forth between .the dark room and the lettering machine, and

means for moving the carrier and the light sensitive material in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lettering machine, to an exact I -focal position, after the carrier and the light sensitive material have reached an approximate focal position in the lettering machine.

2. In a" photographic lettering machine, in

tioned on the outside ofa dark room, carrier means for light sensitive material loadable and unloadable in the dark room, beforeand after the carrier and the light sensitive material in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lettering machine, to an exact focal position, after the carrier and the light sensitive material have reached an approximate focal position in the lettering machine.

3. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination with image projecting means p0- sitioned on the outside of a dark room, carrier means for light sensitive material loadable and unloadable in the dark room, before and after exposure, and movable back and forth between the dark room and the lettering machine, and means, including a manipulating handle extending into the dark room, for moving the carrier and the light sensitive .material in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lettering machine, to an exact focal position, after the carrier the carrier carries the sheet of light sensitive" material, said holder being movable in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the projecting means for holding the light sensitive material in the focal plane of the projecting means.

5. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination with image projecting means positioned on the outside of a dark room, carrier means for light sensitive material movable back and forth to and from the dark room, loadable and unloadable in the dark room, before and after exposure, and a material holder, comprising a clamping plate operable from the dark room, for moving the light sensitive material into the focal plane of the projecting means and for holding it there.

6. In a photographic lettering machine, in

combination, means for projecting an image vertically downwardly, means for moving said image projecting means horizontally, in two directions at right angles to each other, means connecting the machine to a darkroom, carrier means for light sensitive material adapted to travel back and forth between the image projector and the dark room, loadable and unloadable in thedark room, before and after exposure, and means for moving the light sensitive material into the focal plane of the camera after it has comeinto the machine from the dark room.

'7. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination, image projecting means, a dark room, means for connecting the image projecting means to the dark room, a horizontally disposed carrier sheet for light sensitive material, movable in a horizontal plane, between'the projecting means and the dark room, and a material holder in the image projector, slotted to receive the carrier sheet and the light sensitive material carried thereby, and provided with a clamping plate for'clamping the light sensitive material in the focal plane of the image projector.

8. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination, image projecting means, a dark room, means for connecting the image projecting means to the dark room, a horizontallygdig posed carrier sheet for light sensitive material, movable in a horizontal plane, between the projecting means and the dark room, and a material holder in the image projector, slotted to receive the carrier sheet and the light sensitive material carried thereby, and provided with a clampin plate for clamping the light sensitive material in the focal plane of the image projector, said clamping plate being manually opel'able within the dark room. H

9. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination, image projecting means for projecting an image vertically downwardly, a dark room, a light tight means connecting the image projecting means to the dark room, a horizontally disposed table in the dark room extending through said light tight connection into the image projector, a material holder in the focal plane of the image projecting means, and a carrier for light sensitive material loadable and unloadable in the dark room, before and after exposure, and adapted to slide on said table and into said material holder.

10. In a photographic lettering machine, in

'combination, image projecting means for projecting an image vertically downwardly, a dark room, light tight means connecting the image projecting means to the darkroom, a horizontally disposed table in the dark room extending through said light tight connection into the image projector, a material holder in the focal plane of the image projecting means, and a carrier for light sensitive material adapted to slide on said table and into said material holder, and back into the dark room and means for operating said material holder from the dark room.

11. In a photographic lettering machine, in-

combination, image projecting means for.pro-

jecting an image vertically downwardly, a dark room, light tight means connecting the image projecting means to the dark room, a table in the dark room extending through said light tight connection into the image projector, a material holder in the focal plane of the image projecting means, a carrier for light sensitive material adapted to slide on said table and into said material holder, and means extending underneath said table and'into the dark room, for operating said material holder.

12. In a photographic lettering machine, in combination, image projecting means for projecting an image vertically downwardly, a dark room, light tight means connecting the image projecting means to the dark room, a table in the dark room extending through said light tight connection into the image projector, a material holder in the focal plane of the image projecting means, the material holder including an upwardly movable clamping plate, a carrier for light sensitive material adapted to slide on said table and into said material holder, means extending underneath said table and into the dark room, for operating said material holder, and

means in the dark room, for operating said 7 clamping plate.

13. In combination with a photographic lettering machine, wherein the image is projected vertically downwardly, a dark room operatively connected with the machine, a table in the dark room, a horizontally slidable sheet for light sensitive material slidable on said table, and loadable and unloadable in the dark room and" a scale for indicating the position of said sheet.

14. In combination with a photographic lettering machine, wherein the image is projected vertically downwardly, adark room operatively connected with the machine, a table in the dark room, a horizontally slidable sheet for light sensitive material, made of thin sheet metal, slidable on said table, and loadable and unloadable in the dark room, and a scale carried by said table, alongside the sheet, for indicating its position in relation to the lettering machine. 

